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How Is Augmented Reality Used In E-commerce

Remember a very popular game which came out some years back and caused ripples of excitement for at least some months - yes, you guessed it right, it was Pokemon Go. With the user’s smartphone and camera, the game turned the real world into an augmented reality world which included Pokemon. Augmented Reality (AR) is an interesting field, just like Artificial Intelligence and if you think it is only meant for games, then think again!

What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality is a technology that superimposes a digital image on a user’s view of the real world. With the help of advanced AR technologies, the information about the surrounding environment of a user becomes interactive. As interesting as it sounds, the applications of AR are equally exciting.

Augmented Reality and E-commerce

When it comes to purchasing a particular product, the touchpoint a shopper should travel beyond is the question, “Is this product the right choice for me?’. Of course, chatbots, personalization etc added to your site can help your customers to a certain level, but AR can be used to provide a ‘better’ user experience to your customers.

AR into Reality

Various brands have already adopted Augmented Reality. IKEA, a Swedish home furnishing brand is allowing their users to envision how their furniture would fit into the shoppers living or bedroom.

Similarly, if you would like to purchase a watch from Jurawatches or shoes from Converse using their Converse Sample app, they would definitely help you decide which watch or shoes will best suit you.

AR Helps to Narrow the Gap Between Digital and In-store Experiences

Augmented reality can be used to bring a seamless experience for shoppers. As an example, let us look into a demo of a product built by Acquia Labs, which shows how AR can be implemented for the same.

The video above shows how Alex, a shopper communicates with the AR application to purchase items from a fictional store. Using the augmented reality overlays, the mobile application helps Alex to find where the item in her list is located at and which brand should she buy. The app provides information about the price, the ingredients and also reviews of all the products in the store detected by camera. The application is built using ‘Drupal 8’ and augmented reality library, ‘Vuforia’.

AR and Search

The current state of AR can be used to decide how the future of search is going to be. As people use mobile phones more often for their each and every need, we need to broaden how search will work on mobile devices. A situation where people may move beyond a site’s search box is not very far. Also situation is not far when a user directs camera to find reviews about a shop or information about a building.

As more and more brands are opting to provide a fine digital experience to shoppers, all retailers must rethink their online selling strategy and adapt things like AI and AR whenever possible. Get in touch with us to know more.